Bad property manager in GA - HELP!

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jmacgregor

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My fiance owns a house in Augusta, GA. It is being managed by one of the largest property managers in the area. She is being repeatedly billed for AC work and recharging of freon (8 times in 1 year), the condensor went out, she authorized for it to be fixed, she got a bill with no itemization and the condensor was never replaced, the property managment company has taken it upon themselves to authorize repairs to the house without the authorization of the owner (when she had requested they contact her if the estimate were over $50), among other things the company seems not to function in the best interest of their customers. At the same time, the heat/AC company that keeps going to do these repairs that are not even really being done, and then if it is so bad, they failed to notify anyone that a new AC unit was needed. Instead, they keep hitting her up for $2-400 each time they go out there to 'service' it.
She feels very taken advantage of and since we live in SC, we will be taking a day to drive there and find out what's really going on.
If any one can help guide me as far as what I can and should do in this situation (firing the prop. Managers is already one plan, small claims court is another.) Over the last 3 years, my fiance has paid out thousands. Please help if you can.
jM
 
Being charged for recharging the freon 8 times in 1 year indicates, at least to me, that something isn't right here. However, that still doesn't mean that according to the contract the managing company didn't have the right to make repairs and then contact your fiance. You need to read the contract and see what it says on this matter. The fact that your fiancee may have verbally requested to be notified may not be conclusive and may not affect the agreement which probably states that such modifications must be in writing. The best advice any lawyer could probably give a client would be to have any modification that you want in an agreement written into the agreement, no matter how much you "trust" the deal. Handwrite it into the contract if necessary, just write it in there.

That said, it still doesn't mean you won't win in small claims court, which is an informal court that usually skirts with the line of the letter of the law to find justice. Another issue here is your fiancee's not doing something sooner -- when did she find out about the freon issue? About the other items not getting fixed? It could be seen that she waived her right to complain as you cannot sit idly by for a year and then decide to run to court. It lends to the impression that perhaps the incident wasn't so bad if it could be let go for such a long period of time.

But do you need to go to court? Are you seeking a recovery for amounts paid or are you simply refusing to pay for the latest repairs? If so, a letter stating your dissatisfaction and refusal to pay as a result of the fraud that occurred over the past few years might accomplish what you are seeking. In going to court, be prepared to explain what took a while to go to court. If it were me, I'd fire the property manager!!! Does it make sense to keep a "corrupt" manager on the payroll?
 
Michael, thank you for your reply.

Written documentaton has long been well established, a request to be notified about pending repairs was submitted 2 years ago, and there is nothing in the contract that allows them to keep information from us.
Small claims court will be our next step. However, I have consulted a friend whom is a professional in the heat/air industry. I'm presuming from your standpoint this could be used as an expert witness. He had some very interesting information to share concerning the EPA and code violations. He suggested bringing all of our records to the table and ask to settle out of court as the heat/ac company will fear the EPA considerably.

We have made plans to travel south to investigate and meet with senior members of these companies on Friday.

Pelase feel free to advise.
Best regards,
Jeff
 
While we can't give you "legal advice", we can freely discuss what you are posting. :)

It is great when clients have created their own paper trail. In your case, however, be prepared to answer why your fiancee didn't do anything for almost 2 years with regard to the situation. There could be an argument that the situation couldn't have been that bad and/or that you "waived" your rights to proceed on this issue since you didn't bother with it for such a long time. With regard to the latter, in your contract you should see something that deals with "no waiver unless in writing" and you can make the argument that nobody implicitly agrees that a claim is "waived" or "dead" unless you send a written notice stating that it is such. The best thing to do is not even bother dealing with this and, if they raise it, I'd state that you aren't concerned at all about your appearance regarding this matter and they should be more concerned about theirs.

This will probably never go to court and your friend has some good suggestions. In addition to the EPA, it might even be better to mention the attorney general regarding a fraud investigation. Your 8 bills for recharging the freon speaks volumes, at least to me.

I would say as little as possible and let them do most of the talking once you've briefly stated your piece. It seems that the freon issue is the strongest one and hard to deny. With regard to the other service charges, you may want to bring it up that there are no details to the bills so obviously you aren't going to pay for blanket services. They will be laughed out of court, and that too could be brought up with the AG.

Good luck with this situation and let us know how it turns out.
 
News flash!

Friday was very productive. A meeting was scheduled with the property managers at 10:30am. Bringing up a number of flaws on their behalf and backing them with material evidence of unjustifiable charges and such, they were in no position to argue back. The result was, "We'll have to look into these problems and get back to you later next week". Pawning off blame on the little people and mistakes by the book keeper was used a bit much. The services they are to provide seem to be under their conditions and not necessarily in the best interest of the client. So, exactly what services are we paying for it they are never done properly?

After the first meeting we had another lined up with the head honcho of the heat/AC company. Much to our surprise, they had only 2 documented repair/services on their records. As many prop. managers will tack on an additional charge to make a little money on the side, it was found that they were paying the heat/AC bill and resubmitting a bill for a substantial amount more. Granted this is legal, but the bills were sent repeatedly. To answer the question of why this wasn't caught and resolved earlier, it was. The money was credited but recharged the following month and not caught until recently when there was an identical case of 3 repeated bills, identical in nature, and for the same amount withheld from the rent paid to the owner 3 months in a row. When questioned, the book keeper had no recollection of the charges. It was also said that they keep no record of service calls and services to properties. This I find hard to believe. But does an incompetant book keeper make these errors acceptable? Or is it really incompetance? If the property owner simply doesn't catch these 'errors', the property manager is simply stuffing tons of loot in their pockets and then reimbursing if they get caught. Still looks kinda shady to me. As a reminder, this is the largest property manager in the city of Augusta, GA. One would think they would hire a competant book keeper.

On the flip side of things, the heat/AC company was livid at the fact that the property company was making them look bad as service providers themselves. The end result was them providing us with all the info and backing they possibly could. Much appreciated, indeed!

Again, thank you all for your consideration in this matter. It's stuff like this that drives me more and more in the direction of law school. I really enjoy the challenge.

jM
 
Great! It's always fantastic when the other party gives you even more to use against them. Sounds like you really handled the situation very well.

I'm not saying it's the case here, but it many companies make a business of "shoddy bookeeping" so that they overbill, doublebill, etc. and actually rely on the fact that many will not notice. If they do, it was merely a "mistake" either by the computer or some low level clerk. This is a sham and they justify doing this in that the cost of commiting this unlawful behavior justifies the benefits.

I'm not altogether convinced that this operation was not a sham -- my guess is that you aren't convinced either. All they need is one significant audit by the Attorney General and I would not be surprised if it is determined that you aren't the only one.

For the next meeting, you may want to decide what remedy it is that you want. It would seem you have some leverage and stating the two intials "AG" will have them far more willing to concede to your demands.

Yes, I had similar motivations for going to law school. It's not always the same kind of justice but it does provide you with enough situations to dispense some serious pain against those trying to do so without justification. :) It's a significant investment in time and money, but if you like the law it's very gratifying. :D

Let us know how you do and best of luck with round two!
 
New ground is made...

The accounting errors have been resolved. However, a new issue arrises - It seems the wonderful heat/AC company that was so willing to help us neglected to give the property manager notification that the entire AC unit needed to be replaced nor gave a quote on the appropriate parts/labor to do the job. They are very good at keeping every little thing documented, but just can't seem to produce a document indicating that they did in fact give a quote. The fact is, they didn't! The AC unit is still leaking to this very minute. Ooops!
Now, the property manager is in the clear even though they swore up and down that another accounting error of that kind would never happen. A check is in the mail for the amount due. Still shady? Absolutly! We still have some questions to fire back as we now received a quote for $1577 to replace the AC unit (advisable before summer in GA - it is currently 70 degrees there). That's the quote we should have received long ago that would have kept us from paying for more visits to recharge.

Well, there you have most of the story. Again, I thank you all for your support.

jM
 
Just keep doing what you are doing and make sure the tail is pinned on these donkeys. This incredibly "sloppiness" has now provided you with some leverage and I'm sure you will use it to your advantage! :) Good luck!
 
Well, I'm still plugging at researching the EPA's website and will e-mail them a question tomorrow.
What has all of this brought me? A decision to move forward and continue my education in law. I am currently looking into the U of South Carolina school of law for fall of 2003. Wish me luck.
jM
 
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